Apparatus for holding and lifting by means of suckers



F. BJWALDRON APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND LIFTING BY MEANS OF SUCKERS.

APPLICATION NEED OCT. 6,1920.

11 26,692, Patented Aug. 22, 1922.

r! v t? We r ii lei ll s l FEEDERIG BARNES YUAYLDRON, PRESGOT, ENGLAND,ASSIGNOR TO PILKINGTON BROTHERS LIMITED, 0}? ST. HELENS, ENGLAND, ALIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY OF EHGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND LIFTING BY IFEEANS OE STICKERS,

nasaeea.

Application filed. October 6,

T 0 aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, Fnnnnnic BARNES-WALDRON, a subject of the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britainand Ireland, and residing at Eco eston Park, Prescot, in the county ofLancaster, England, have invented new and useful THIPILOVG- ments inApparatus for Holding and Lifting by Means of Suckers, of wh1ch thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for holding and lifting by means ofsuckers, and as it is particularly applicable for holding and liftingplates of glass, the following description deals with 1t only in thatconnection. The invention has for its object to provide new or improvedapparatus whereby large plates of glass may be lifted from a horizontalposition by a crane, transported thereby in a vertical or nearlyvertical position and placed either on edge on racks or in a horizontalposition.

This improved apparatus is more especially designed for lifting platesof glass in the course of their manufacture, in which they are bedded onto the grinding and polishing tables and have to be lifted therefrom.The plates when so bedded, adhere so firmly to the tables that it isimpraeticable, unless by the use of very powerful apparatus, to liftthem by a direct vertical pull, and, when being lifted by hand, theyhave to be raised first at one edge and, as it were, peeled off thetable the flexibility of the plates permit-ting this peeling action.

The lifting apparatus which forms the subject of this invention,imitates this action of lifting by'hand, and, under the hoisting actionof the crane, lifts the plate first at one edge and, by allowing it tobend, peels it off the table.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1, is a front elevation showing the apparatus as when suspendedfrom the crane and holding in a vertical plane, a plate of glass notrepresented in the figure.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of Figure 1,showing on an enlarged scale, a portion of the apparatus when in ahorizontal position, and

Figure 3 is a view of a portion of Fig Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Au 22, 1922.

1920. Serial 110. 415,121.

ure 2 on an enlarged scale, showing a mod ified form of the apparatus.

In the construction represented in the drawing, which is to be takenmerely as a convenient example, the frame of the apparatus is composedof a channel bar 1, to

which are bolted cross arms 2, 2, by bolts 15, 15. At each end of eachcross arm 2, is supported a sucker 3, and these suckers are connected topipe junctions 4, 1, by rubber or other flexible connecting pipes 5, 5,while the pipe junctions 4, a, are connected together and to a T-piece7, by pipes 6, A flexible pipe 8, connected to the T-piece 7, connectsthe suckers 3, through the, system of pipes to an air-exhausting means.The apparatus is supported from the crane by sling 10, 10, pivoted inlugs 9, 9, fixed to the channel bar 1.

The crane sling 10, 10, is attached symmetrically to the centre of theapparatus in the direction of the length of the channel bar 1, but, inthe other direction, it is attached on a line nearer to one side (thatis to say, to the top as seen in Figure 1) of the apparatus. Further, asshown in Figure 2, the common axis of the sling pivots, is as close aspracticable to the plane of the faces of the suckers, so that when theapparatus is lifted, as in Figure 1, carrying a plate of glass, it hangsnearly vertically, and is therefore in a convenient position fortransport and for placing said plate on edge on racks. I

When the apparatus is placed centrally on the plate of glass and isattached thereto by the suckers 3, the pull of the crane acts most onthat edge of the plate to which the lugs 9, 9, are nearest, and liftsthis edge first, and then gradually brings the plate more and moretowards the vertical until said plate leaves the table.

In order to secure the peeling oil action above mentioned, the glassplate must be allowed to bend when being lifted and to permit thisbending, the suckers 3 are supported loosely on the cross arms 2.

As shown. in Figure 2, a bolt 11 is rigidly attached to the body 12 ofthe sucker 3, and passes through a hole in the end of the cross arm 2,the hole being larger than the bolt so as to allow play between them.There is also play between the upper surface of the end of the cross arm2 and a shoulder 13 of the bolt 11. The sucker, therefore, can, withinsmall limits, take up any angular position with reference to. the frame,andall suckers can consequently remain in contact with the plate whenthis is bent.

In order that the apparatus may be employed to lift both small andlarge'plates, valves 14:, 14, are provided in thepipes 6, 6, leading tothe two outer pairs of suckers 3,

so that when one or both of these pairsof the lugs 9, 9, being nearer toone side of the-apparatus than to the other.

To enable the suckers 3 securely to hold rough cast glass or glass thatis Warped, it is preferred to make the frame of the apparatus flexibleso that any one of the cross arms 2, 2 can, within small limits, take upany angular position relatively to the plane of the frame. For thispurpose the frame would preferably be made flexible by so attaching thecross arms 2, 2 to the channel barl, as to permit of limited relativemotion between these parts. Any convenient mechanical. construction maybe adopted to securethis freedom of the cross arms, vfor example, in theconstruction of frame shown, in Figure 3 it is conveniently obtained byleaving the bolts 15, 15 slightly slack.

The invention is not confined to the particular design and constructionof apparatus shown and described, but it is an essen tial feature of theinvention that the suckers should be so attached to the frame of theapparatus, that they can remain incontact with the plate of glass whenthis latter bends under the action of pulling it off the table.

Having described my invention, I declare that what I cl'aim'and desireto secure by,

Letters Patent is 1. In apparatus for lifting and carrying glass.plates, the combination of a frame, suckers thereon adapted to beattached to glass plates by suction and a carrying sling pivoted to theframe on an axis nearer to one side of the frame than to the other.

2. In apparatus for lifting andcarrying glass plates, the combination ofa frame,

suckers thereon adapted to be attached to glass plates by suction, acarrying sling pivoted to the frame on an axis nearer to one side of theframe than to the other and as close as is constructionally practicableto the plane containing the faces of the suckers.

3. In apparatus for lifting and carrying glass plates, the combinationof a longitudr nal member and cross members attached to the longitudinalmember to form a frame, suckers thereon adapted to be attached to glassplates by suction, and a carrying sling pivoted to the frame on an axisnearer to one side of the frame than to the other.

l. In apparatus for lifting and carrying glass plates, the combinationof a longitudinal-member and cross members attached to the longitudinalmember to form a frame, suckers thereon adapted to be attached to glassplates by suction, a carrying sling pivoted to the frame on an axisnearer to one side of the frame than to the other and as close as isconstructionally practicable to the plane containing the faces ofthes'uckers.

5. In apparatus for lifting and carrying glass plates, the combinationof a longitudinal member and cross members, means for attaching thecross members to the longitudinal member to form a frame and permit asmall movement of the cross members out of their general plane, suckerson the crossmembers adapted to be attached to glass plates by suctionand a carrying sling pivoted to the frame on an axis nearer to one sideof the frame than to the other.

6. In apparatus for lifting and carrying glass plates, the combinationof a longitudinal member and cross members, means for FREDERIO BARNES.VVALDRON.

